An Affair of the Heart
by fitzpleasures
Summary: Shane Gray knows the affair he's having isn't typical. Why? Because it isn't typical to develop real feelings in a typical affair. Really bad summary, I know. It's good, I promise.
1. On Paper

Shane Gray is a normal guy.

He's twenty-six years old. He owns his own independent record label so he makes pretty good money.

Enough money to shell out nearly three hundred dollars once a month for a nice hotel room at the Marriot.

Why would a normal, upper-middle class, twenty-six year old guy need to get such an expensive hotel room once a month? Simple.

To have an affair.

Shane had being seeing this woman for quite some time now. Eighteen months to be exact. That boils down to about eighteen nights he spent with her in hotel rooms. Eighteen nights where he forgot all of his morals. Eighteen nights of passion spent with someone who his passion should not have been given to.

Eighteen nights of being unfaithful.

Yes, Shane Gray is a normal guy…on paper.

In reality, Shane Gray is a twenty-six year old record label owner who has been cheating on his wife for a year and half.

…

**So this is (obviously) a new story from me. I've had this idea for a while and I'm writing it in this new kind of style. The chapters are going to be short but I'm gonna update frequently. I already have the next three chapters typed up so maybe at like five reviews I'll post the next one!**

**I hope you liked it and thanks for reading! (Review!)**


	2. On the Surface

Mitchie Torres knew that when her time came and she had passed on, she had a first class ticket to hell.

She's twenty-four years old and worked for an independent record label as the boss's personal assistant. She made pretty good money but she was sure most of it came from the work she put in _overtime_.

Her life was pretty quiet, mundane, though. That was with the exception for one day every month. Because on that one night, she wasn't just a twenty-four year old assistant to some record label owner.

On that night, Mitchie had become someone's mistress.

For eighteen months she had been some guy's sole provider of passion. That worked out to about eightreen nights where she slept with a man who she _knew_ had a wife at home.

On the surface, Mitchie seemed like an innocent twenty-four year old with a normal job and a normal life but in reality, that was so wrong.

In reality, Mitchie Torres is a twenty-four year old who had been sleeping with her boss.

…

**The next couple of chapter are longer than this so, no worries. Haha Hope you guys liked it and review so I can post up the next chapter!**

**Oh, and concerning bookcritic345's review(which gave me some good insight, thank you for that), there will be a reason to root for Mitchie, as you put it. Haha. It's coming in later chapters so as long as you guys hang in there, you'll find out. :]**


	3. No One Quite Like You

"What's on the schedule today, Mitchie?" Shane walked into his office building, his assistant Mitchie tagging along.

"Just meetings with some potential new clients, lunch and then," She paused and looked up from her Blackberry and met eyes with him. "Dinner with your wife."

Shane looked around and noticed the receptionist not so discretely eavesdropping on their conversation. He nodded and sighed.

"Follow me into my office, please. I have some paperwork I need you to handle." The two of them made their way to Shane's office quickly. Once they were there, Shane motioned for Mitchie to close the door behind her.

"Should I cancel dinner?" She asked, her voice taking on a sort of seductiveness.

"Tonight's not our night, Mitchie." He reminded her flatly.

She groaned and threw her arms down at her sides. "This whole 'one night a month' thing isn't working anymore."

"Fine. I can always find another assistant." He said bluntly. He knew it was a bit of a bluff.

Mitchie rolled her eyes and walked over to him, a smug smile on her face. She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around in his desk chair to face her. "I don't think you'll be able to find another assistant that does what I do."

She took a quick glance at the closed office door before leaning in and placing her lips on his. Shane tried to resist, but quickly gave in to the kiss. He found himself hungrily kissing her back. He reached his hands up to her waist and attempted to pull her down on top of him. Feeling this was too much, she pushed him away, breaking the kiss.

"Sorry, Mr. Gray," She leaned her lips next to his ear. "Its not our night."

With that, she composed herself, grabbed the paperwork he had referred to earlier and walked out of his office.

Shane sighed and threw his head back, letting out a moan of frustration. She was right. He would never be able to find another assistant quite like her.

There was another before Mitchie. When Shane first started the label he had another assistant, Mark. Admittedly, he only hired him because he was his wife's brother and at the time he needed a job. Besides a general uncaring for Shane and his business, Mark was a total 'yes-man'. Whatever Shane suggested, Mark would say yes to it. That annoyed Shane to no end. He didn't someone to follow him around and tell him everything that he was doing was perfect. He needed someone to give their honest opinion.

And that's exactly what Mitchie did. The girl was an expert at speaking her mind. If Shane was thinking of signing a new artist, Mitchie would let her thoughts on the artist be heard. She might not have always been _courteous_ in expressing what she felt but she was always honest and Shane appreciated it. Sometimes, though, they would have differing opinions and butt heads but that's what Shane liked. He liked that aspect of his and Mitchie's relationship. There was never a dull moment. And because of that, Shane knew not only would he be able to find an assistant quite like her.

He would never be able to find another woman quite like Mitchie Torres.

…

**Thanks for all the awesome reviews! I really appreciate it. I might end up changing the rating of this to 'M' later on. We'll see. Haha Well, Review please! :] Thanks for reading!**


	4. It's Changed

Mitchie sat in her small office dealing with the paperwork Shane had designated for just a few minutes ago. She heard her cellphone buzz from inside of her purse and went to see who was texting her so early in the day. A smug smile came to her face once she saw the sender and the message.

_From: Shane Gray_

_Fine. Cancel dinner. We'll meet up tonight._

No matter what he believed, Mitchie knew she had a certain amount of control over Shane.

She did feel kind of bad, though. After all he _was_ a married man. But, to be fair, it wasn't just sex between the two of them. Sure, it had started as strictly sexual but somewhere along the way it changed. She actually remembered the exact night it happened.

_Mitchie sat on the edge of the bed staring impatiently at the television in front of her. She wasn't even paying attention to the mindless reality show that was on. She was mostly consumed with the fact that Shane was late. Really late._

_She looked at her phone, which she had clutched in her hand, to check for messages from Shane._

_Nothing._

_It had been an hour and a half since they were supposed to meet here and she hadn't gotten so much as a call or text from him. She wanted to worry about him but she thought somehow there was something wrong about her worrying about the man she was in an adulterous relationship with._

_Just as she was about to gather up some courage to call Shane's wife with some bogus excuse as to why she wanted to know about his whereabouts, the man himself came storming into the room like a hurricane._

"_Finally," She mumbled to herself as she stood to greet him. She opened her arms to him and instead of embracing her as he usually did he sidestepped and shook his head._

"_Not in the mood for a hug?" She asked slightly teasingly._

_He shook his head with the most serious of expressions on his face. "I'm not in the mood for anything, to be honest."_

"_Um, excuse me?" It might have been slightly rude sounding, but why would he waste both of their time by having them meet if he wasn't 'in the mood for anything'?_

_He snapped his head up to look at her and that's when she saw it. This was the sixth time they had met up like this, met up to fool around, and every time there had only been one thing she saw in Shane's eyes and that was lust. Every time he would walk in, take off his coat or whatever article of clothing he felt unnecessary to wear at the moment, and Mitchie would see it, the lust in his eyes. But now, she didn't see that. All she saw was…hurt._

"_Are you okay?" She asked slightly awkwardly._

"_Look, I know we were supposed to mess around but," Shane hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I don't know can we just talk for a minute? I kind of need to get some things off my chest."_

That night, Shane had confessed to Mitchie a lot about his marriage. Things like how his wife doesn't support his business and keeps asking him to get a 'real job'. How she finds it acceptable to belittle him just because she makes more money than he does. Mitchie realized he might have started the affair for physical reasons but soon they became emotional reasons. Unlike his wife, Mitchie thought the fact that Shane basically built his little independent record label from the ground up to be extremely impressive. And she never belittled him. Besides the fact that it would kind of ruin their little 'arrangement', she generally tried to treat everyone as equals. She was raised to believe no one was better than anyone. But that didn't stop her from thinking that Shane was much better than the witch he was married to. She never dared to ask but she knew why he was still with her.

It would be quite rude to divorce the daughter of the man who loaned him most of the money and resources used to start the record label.

After reliving that night in her head, Mitchie started to feel bad for persuading Shane in to meeting tonight.

She grabbed her cellphone and replied to his text message.

_To: Shane_

_I've had a change of heart. Go enjoy dinner with your wife. I'll be patient and wait until it's my turn. ;)_

She felt selfish wanting more of Shane's time but she couldn't help it. Yes, it started strictly sexual but it was turning into something more.

Mitchie was catching actual feelings for Shane.

…

**I have a feeling as we go deeper into the plot, the chapters will get much longer. Exciting. Haha Well, thanks for reading and please review!**


	5. Emotions

Shane went straight from the office to the restaurant _La Maison Dorée_, or The Golden House. If it were up to him, he'd pick up something from McDonalds and call it a night but it wasn't up to him. It seemed like it was _never_ up to him.

To simply put it, _La Maison Dorée _was fucking expensive. Everything was ridiculously priced seeing as how the food wasn't even that good. But Shane guessed you weren't exactly paying for the shitty food, you were paying for the atmosphere. All of the city's finest residents ate here. Any given day you could find a local celebrity chowing down on a plate of the crap the place served. He figured the publicity that came with being seen at the restaurant was the main reason his wife chose to dine there.

Everything was always about a "photo op" with her.

"Uh, Gray," Shane told the maître d' who had asked for the name of his party. He couldn't help but notice the snooty glance he received as he spoke. He wasn't prepared for dinner with the richest folks in town so he was a bit underdressed for the occasion.

"I'm sorry sir, there is no _Gray_ party here." The maître d' informed him. "Perhaps you were mistaken?"

Just as Shane was about to insist this guy was wrong, he saw his wife stomping up to the desk.

"He's with me." She linked arms with Shane and walked him to their table.

Once they arrived, Shane sat and shook his head as she let out an audible sigh.

"Let me guess, you put the reservations under _Woodsen_?" Shane asked peeved that his own wife still refused to use _his_ last name in situations such as these.

"What was I supposed to do Shane? I didn't exactly have reservations and I figured if they knew that I'm Ashley Woodsen, they'd make room." She whispered at him. "And look, they did! Like I've said many times before, having a known name gets you places."

Shane rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He wondered where everything in his marriage went wrong. Ashley didn't always used to be this way. In fact, when they were first set up on one of those speed dating things, he loved her personality. She seemed like a woman who wouldn't stop until she accomplished what she set out to do and that was very attractive to Shane. However that drive that pulled him in was the same drive that was slowly pushing him away.

Ever since Ashley became one of the better known paralegals in the city, her whole attitude changed. Shane could only guess it came from the other women at the office. The other women whose husbands were lawyers or judges or doctors. Those women would share tales about how their husbands would spend money on them for lavish gifts and vacations to distant tropical islands. And while they lived it up, all Ashley could brag about was how _her_ husband owned a 'hole-in-the-wall' the he called a record label.

It seemed no matter how many artists he signed, how much money he made from those artists, or even the fact that his label was finally start to get mainstream recognition, it would never be enough for Ashley.

The simple, non-extravagant life Shane wanted to live was not good enough for Ashley.

As Shane picked up his menu to order, Ashley placed her hand on top of his, gently pushing it back down on the table.

"I already ordered for you." She simply stated.

That was another thing. Ashley always treated Shane like he was an incompetent adult who couldn't do anything correctly without her help.

"How was work–" He asked to change the subject. Before she could answer, he phone began to ring and she held up a finger at him. Instead of properly excusing herself with the manners she so often accused him of not having, she just stood up from the table and made her way to the ladies room.

Shane shook his head and pulled out his own cellphone. He dialed the very familiar number and pressed the phone to his ear, eagerly waiting to hear the voice on the other line.

"_You're calling me before midnight? Should I be worried?"_

He smiled at the way she answered his call. No 'hi' or 'hello', just right down to business.

"Maybe you should have canceled dinner for me after all." He whispered into the phone so she, and no one else, would only hear his words. "I'd much rather be with you than at this dumbass restaurant."

"_You can't be with me all the time, Shane. People would start to get suspicious…"_

He smiled. He never thought about what would happen if people actually started to suspect the relationship between him and Mitchie was more than that of a boss and his assistant. No one around the office suspected a thing and if they did, they made sure not to make a fuss about their suspicions. Ashley sure as hell didn't think anything of his late nights away from home. She just assumed he was 'wasting his time at the studio'.

"Can't have that now, can we?"

Now that he thought about it, would it be so bad if people knew? Maybe if they did, it'd give him a valid reason to end things with Ashley besides the fact that he had just fallen out of love with her. He knew she, nor her father, would find that a good enough reason for divorce. Or maybe if Ashley found out about his cheating, _she_ would break it off with _him_. That would be just perfect.

"_Are you doing that thing again? You know, when you call just to hear my voice?"_

"Yes, I am." Shane answered nodding into the phone.

"_Buh-bye, Shane."_

Shane felt his heart sink a bit when she hung up. He knew why she did, though. Mitchie really only had one rule about their little affair. Under no circumstances were they to act like a couple. And he was pretty sure calling just to hear her voice constituted as a 'couple-like' thing to do.

It wasn't the first time he had done it either.

"Guess who just got signed on to another high profile case?" Ashley asked excitedly returning to the table.

"Congrats." Shane said flatly.

"Ah! I'm so excited! This is going to do so much for…"

Shane tuned her out as his mind drifted back to Mitchie. It sometimes worried him how much he thought about her. He wondered if she thought about him at all. Mitchie was a master at hiding what she was really feeling. The two of them could be flirting but as soon as someone walked by and there was the chance of their relationship being exposed, she turned on the professionalism. _His little actress_ was what he called her sometimes. He wished he was as good at hiding his emotions as she was.

Maybe then it'd be easier for him to hide the fact that he was slowly but surely falling head-over-heels for Mitchie Torres.

* * *

><p><strong>So this chapter was the longest (so far). Thanks for all the awesome reviews for the last chapter! I guess I'll keep the rating T for now but I might push the boundaries of the rating in future chapters because of language but whatever, I guess. Haha<strong>

**Please leave me more awesome reviews! It gives me motivation to write!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Losing

Today was the day. It was _their _day.

Shane had been thinking about it so much, he barely got any sleep the night before.

His wife thought he was going to some important music conference to scout new talent. She was under the impression the idea of signing talented hopefuls excited her husband, not the idea of rolling around with another woman.

"See you tomorrow, honey." Shane always made sure to kiss his wife goodbye and use affectionate terms like '_honey_'. He was an expert at making the most suspicious of acts seem normal.

All the excitement that Shane had collected from last night and this morning quickly disappeared once he walked into his office building.

"Where's Mitchie?" Shane asked the receptionist at the front desk.

"She called in sick, sir."

The color drained from his face. Called in sick? She knew it was their day. She never missed a day, let alone one that had such a special meaning.

"I see. Well I'll be in my office." Shane calmly walked into his office. It wasn't until he shut the door behind him that he let his true emotions show.

_Called in sick_. That echoed in his head. Why would she do such a thing? The previous day she seemed perfectly healthy. Her skin was glowing, there was 'pep' in her step and she seemed in good spirits. No. She wouldn't just _call in sick_. There was something else going on.

Shane pulled out his cellphone and dialed the number he didn't have saved in his phone. He didn't want his wife to look at his call log and see the name _'Mitchie Torres'_ listed endlessly.

"_What do you want?"_

He clenched his jaw. Yes, something was _definitely_ wrong with her.

"You couldn't call to say you weren't coming in today?"

"_Just because I didn't call you doesn't mean I didn't call. Ask the front desk."_

"But you didn't call _me_." He dropped his voice down to a whisper, paranoid that someone was listening in. "You know tonight's our night."

"_And I'll be there. Stop worrying, Mr. Gray."_

Shane sighed heavily when he heard the line go dead.

She had hung up on him. Something about her tone was different.

Yes, something was _definitely_ wrong with her.

**…**

Mitchie sat on the edge of the hotel bed tapping her foot anxiously. She knew in a few minutes Shane would come through the door, smirk on his face, lust in his eyes, ready to get down to business. And that happen to be what she wanted to do too.

Get down to _'business'_.

As if on cue, Shane came rushing through the door. She noticed he was still in his work clothing. Usually he would have changed by the time he got here. It wasn't the normal, then again, she had a feeling the entire night wouldn't be normal.

"Sorry I'm late. Who knew working thirty minutes overtime would set me back so late?" He said struggling to get his room key out of the door.

"It's fine." She said flatly.

"Good," He turned to face her and a familiar smirk grew on his lips. "Nice outfit choice. I don't remember buying you that, though."

Mitchie looked down at the pink and black lace bustier she had chosen to wear and stood up to walk over to him. Once she was standing nearly toe-to-toe with him, she placed her hands on her hips. He obviously wasn't getting from her body language that she was slightly upset seeing as how he just smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Its because you didn't." She informed him. His forehead crinkled in confusion. "Liam Mayer."

"Is that a brand?" He asked dumbly.

"No, that's the name on the guy who bought this for me."

Shane's hands dropped from her waist and his easy demeanor tensed. He shook his head and walked past her, taking a seat on the bed. He buried his head in his hands and the room went silent.

"Are you mad?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.

"No, I'm actually filled with joy from the though that some other man is buying you lingerie!" He said with a dry laugh. He jumped up from the bed and quickly walked over to her. "Why is some other guy buying you lingerie, Mitchie?"

"Why are you getting so upset?" He was falling right into her trap. He was reacting exactly the way she wanted him to.

"No, you don't get to ask questions. You only get to answer them." He said in a harsh tone. "Why is some other man buying you stuff?"

"He gave it to me as a gift on our fifth date."

"Oh so now you're dating too?" He was practically foaming at the mouth. She had never seen Shane so pissed in her life. She figured now it was time.

"Do you hear yourself Shane? You're getting upset that I, your _secret lover_, is dating another guy." Her words once again caused his forehead to wrinkle up. "While you and I both know if your wife told you what I just told you you'd actually be relieved. It'd give you a reason to end things with her."

"I-I don't get what you're trying to say." He stammered.

"I'm tired of this, Shane. It sucks that the only time I get to feel close to you is one night a month in a stupid hotel room. How you reacted just now only proves what you and I have been trying to ignore for a while now."

"And what is that?"

"This isn't just sex anymore. We both have feelings for each other."

She had to admit, she was a little nervous to just come out and say that. She could have been wrong. Maybe she was the only one with feelings. Maybe it was still just sex to him. She knew that was pretty unlikely but it was still a possibility.

Shane stood in front of Mitchie with his mouth hanging open. He had to admit, it was pretty gutsy of her to come out and say that. She didn't know if she was right to imply that. For all she knew, he still thought of their relationship as just sex. All the little gestures he did outside of the hotel room, calling her late at night to talk, flirting with her at work, made it highly unlikely though. But it was still a possibility.

"I don't know, maybe this is just my conscience speaking. Maybe after a year and half I'm _finally_ starting to feel bad about hooking up with a married man but," She continued. "I like you, Shane. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love what goes on in these hotel rooms but I find myself wanting to just go to the movie theater with you or to go out to a nice dinner. I…I kind of want to date you. You know, have a real relationship."

He had never seen Mitchie this…_timid_. The Mitchie he knew was always brash and confident. The Mitchie confessing her feelings in front of him now was anything but confident. She was actually quite vulnerable.

"Mitchie," He spoke her name softly as he walked up to her, pulling her into a hug. "I've tried to convince myself otherwise but I have feelings for you too. I like you and I want all those things to but–"

She wiggled out of his grip. "But what?"

"You know my situation with Ashley and her dad and the label. If I break things off with her, I can kiss my label goodbye." He said with a heavy sigh.

"But you've signed so many good artists. Do you really need help from your 'rich daddy-in-law'?" She said grabbing his hands in hers.

Shane looked into her eyes and then quickly looked away.

"I can't…I just can't, Mitchie." He said softly.

"So that's it?" She asked, pushing him away from her.

Shane shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. He didn't know what else to say. He was in between a rock and a hard place.

"Well then Shane, if you can't than neither can I."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't keep living my life like this. I'm twenty-four years old. I want a real relationship, not a scandalous rendezvous once a month. And if you don't want to have that with me than I guess we're done here."

Shane couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she breaking things off?

"Mitchie, wait," He grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking away from him. "Are you saying you don't want to see me anymore?"

She shook her head. "Not if it's like this."

Mitchie had to admit she felt a little bad about this. She was basically asking the man to end his marriage to be with her but it wasn't _that_ crazy of a request. He was unhappy in his marriage and he was happy with her. He had told her both plenty of times.

"See you tomorrow, Shane." She reached up and placed a kiss on Shane's cheek.

Shane watched her gather her things and walk out of the hotel room. In a year and a half, never had she walked out of the room if he wasn't following close behind.

He slowly sat down on the bed and tried to process what had just happened. There wasn't much he could do. It was almost like he was literally choosing between business and pleasure.

Yes, he would love to be with Mitchie in a greater capacity but he also wanted to keep the man who had invested so much money in Shane's label happy.

There was no easy choice. It seemed like whatever he chose, he'd be losing something.

It just came down to which he was willing to lose.

**...**

******Sorry it took so long for me to update! Next update at 4 or 5 reviews!**

**Thanks for reading! :]**


	7. Hypocrite

Shane walked into his house with his head hung low. He didn't even bother staying the rest of the night at the hotel. He wanted to get as far away from it as possible, actually.

He sighed and quietly shut the front door behind him. It was nearly two in the morning and the last thing he wanted to do was to wake his wife. Unfortunately, when he heard the sound of footsteps coming toward him, he knew that was exactly what he had done.

"Shane?" Ashley whispered at him. Good thing it was him because if he was some burglar, he was pretty sure asking their name wouldn't help her any.

"Go back to bed, Ash." Shane murmured.

"I thought your conference was supposed to last until tomorrow morning. What are you doing back?" She questioned.

"Does it really matter why? I'm here. Go back to bed, I'll be there in a second."

He could hear her huff loudly. He was in _no_ mood for an argument.

"Well you just showed up unannounced–"

Shane felt her actions really suspicious. And since he was seasoned in techniques used to pull off an affair, the way she was acting seemed quite familiar to him.

"Why are you so…_jumpy_?" He asked walking closer to her. "Got another man up there?"

She smiled smugly at him. "Do you really think I would do that?"

"Just a joke." He muttered removing his coat and throwing it over the back of the couch.

"I mean, after all, _you're_ the one who's always sneaking off to late night meetings and conferences. If anyone should be the accused cheater, it's you."

Shane sucked in a breath. Had Ashley had hidden suspicions of his behavior all this time?

He couldn't show that her words threw him. That'd just make him look _really_ suspicious.

"It's called working, Ashley. Not all of us can be hotshot paralegals with comfortable daytime office hours." He was pretty proud of his response. Cool, but still keeping up the banter between them.

"Must be interesting," She started, flicking on a light to get a better look at Shane. He knew what she was looking for.

Once, thanks to Mitchie, Shane unknowingly had a nice, big hicky on his chest. He ended up changing in front of Ashley and she easily spotted the 'love mark'. He was able to easily play it off as a self-inflicted mark but he figured if it kept happening, she'd think otherwise.

"Working late night conferences like this every so often. Tell me Shane," She walked up to him and began tracing tiny circles on his chest through his shirt. "Do you ever get _lonely_ at those conferences?"

He snorted a bit. "Why would I get lonely? Its not like I'm by myself. Other people from the label are there too."

"Other people?" She asked still tracing the circles. "Like your little pretty assistant? What was her name again?"

Shane groaned and moved away from her. This wouldn't be the first time she voiced her opinions on Mitchie.

"Ashley, Mitchie is just my assistant and that's all. You know that." A couple hours ago, that would have been a false statement. Now, it was a very true reality for him.

"And what exactly does she _'assist'_ you with?"

"You know, I don't know if you should really be talking right now considering the lawyer _you_ assist is just a George Clooney clone!" He instantly flipped the conversation from about him, to about her.

"C'mon now Shane. Do you really think I would do something with Todd?" She asked as if it was stupid that he even implied that.

"Do _you_ think I would ever do something with Mitchie?"

Ashley shook her head wanting the argument to end. It was too late at night to be arguing like this. Besides, she was sure if they kept it up, she might end up saying something she'd regret.

"I'm going to bed." Shane muttered as he brushed past her and went upstairs.

He went straight into the bathroom to wash up a little before heading to bed. It was when he reached for a washcloth that he noticed the shiny silver Rolex by the sink.

"Hmm," He didn't own a watch as nice as this one. Unless this was some kind of present from Ashley that she just so careless left out for him to see, Shane was sure this was another man's watch.

Maybe he wasn't the only one having fun behind his spouse's back.

Downstairs, Ashley rubbed her temples and breathed heavily. She hated fighting with Shane, she really did. Their relationship didn't always use to be this way. There was a time where they were actually happy together.

That was before the record company though.

After Shane set it up, with the help of her father, things changed. She thought it would be just a little hobby, that it was fail as quickly as it started. When it didn't, when Shane actually started signing artists, he spent more time working. It wasn't really the working that bothered her, though. It was the fact that for all that time spent he wasn't bringing home _nearly_ enough money. Not to say she was so superficial that all she cared about was how much money her husband made but in the profession she was in, spouses tended to match each other in paycheck and in social status. Both areas Shane ranked quite low.

Not to mention his damned assistant, too.

When the company first started, her father recommended Shane hire her brother Mark as his assistant. Granted Mark wasn't the sharpest took or the most lively of workers but he was her brother and it only seemed right they keep it in the family. But when Mark started slacking too much for Shane's liking, he let him go and hired a new assistant. It would be stupid to imply that Ashley wasn't jealous of Mitchie. Here was a younger, gorgeous woman who was spending way more time with her husband than she was. Yes, she trusted Shane but it was in her nature to be a little jealous. She took solace in the face that she knew he'd never try and pull any funny business behind her back.

That was until she realized she was blinded by love. She was seeing what she wanted to see. Once she stopped, everything became clearer.

Shane would come home to Ashley and smell like women's perfume. At first, she chalked it up to him being around his female artists but then she realized, that scent was all to familiar. At a party held for one of Shane's artist's new single, Ashley ran into Mitchie and wouldn't you know it? There was the perfume. She never confronted Shane about it because she thought she was being irrational. It was easy to see how Shane could have picked up the girl's smell. She was his assistant after all.

But then came the conferences.

Every month? She was started to feel a little insulted. Did Shane really think her intelligence level was so low she wouldn't figure it out?

Maybe it was with Mitchie and maybe it wasn't but it was definitely with someone.

But there was one reason she never confronted Shane about it, a bigger reason than not wanting to be wrong in accusing him.

She was cheating herself.

It wasn't easy to be a woman in a 'man's business'. Being a paralegal was tough. It was hard to get people to take you seriously if you were a woman and Ashley was nothing _but_ serious about her work. So in order to get where she needed to be, she did a little flirting here and there to move up. Never did she intend to have full on flings with some of these men.

But that's the difference.

When she would have the occasional rendezvous with a guy at the office, it was just a fling.

She was sure that whatever Shane had going on was much more than a fling.

She didn't want to believe it. She still had yet to believe it, honestly. But she knew it.

Shane was in love with another woman.

…

**So, there you have it. Shane's wife isn't such a victim now, huh? Thanks for all the awesome reviews! Special thanks to bookcritic345's review. Really helped me out a lot. I always love in depth reviews like that!**

**Anyway, next chapter at 4 or 5 reviews!**

**Thanks for reading! :]**


	8. Decisions

Shane gripped his coffee mug tightly as he trudged into his office building. The heat from the mug was nearly scorching his palm but he didn't really mind it too much. The pain almost felt kind of nice. It distracted him from the million other things on his mind.

It had been two days since Mitchie confessed her feelings and subsequently ended their little affair and he hadn't seen her since. Apparently, she had caught a bad case of the '_flu_' and was unable to come in to work.

_Bullshit_, he thought to himself as he walked past his receptionist. She stood slightly and looked as if she was about to say something to him but when he didn't stop to talk, she lowered herself back into her seat sheepishly.

Shane struggled to balance his shoulder bag, coffee mug and a folder of papers he had picked up on the way in as he tried to open his office door. He stuck the folder in between his teeth and opened the door with his semi-free hand. He quickly walked in and shut the door behind him. When he turned to his desk, what his eyes saw made his heart skip a beat.

"Mitchie," He mindlessly muttered forgetting all about the folder in between his teeth. The papers inside went spilling all over the floor and in the commotion the coffee mug ended up tumbling out of his hand. "Shit."

Mitchie turned to face her bumbling boss. It was hard for her to keep up the professional façade she had decided she would now have around him but she had to. She had to show him she was serious about what she said. She wasn't going to be his little toy anymore.

"I-I didn't know you were coming in today." Shane bent down to pick up the fallen paperwork but looked up every so often as he spoke. He couldn't help but notice the outfit she was wearing was one of his personal favorites. The high-waist black pencil skirt paired with a particularly _fitting_ white blouse…drove him insane. As much as he loved her in it, he wanted nothing more to get her _out_ of it. And, maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him or maybe it was the way the sun was shining through the office window and directly on her, but her hair seemed a lighter shade of brown than it had been before. She just had a different vibe about her altogether.

"You look," He took a breath as he let his eyes roam on her. "_Amazing_."

Mitchie walked out from behind Shane's desk shaking her head. She picked up a file on the desk and walked over to him.

"Here are updated contracts." She extended her arm to hand him the folder and was caught off guard when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his body.

Shane could see was Mitchie was _attempting_ to do. If she thought acting as if the past year and half hadn't happened and that they were suddenly _only_ co-workers, was going to fly by him, she was sadly mistaken.

He would be lying if he said he didn't take _some_ joy in the obvious effect he had on her. She was trying so very hard to keep the façade up but he knew she wouldn't be able to for long. Being that they were so close, he could feel nearly everything her body was doing. Her knees were a bit wobbly, her breathing was ragged, her eyes were searching for a place to land that wasn't on his face and her bottom lip was wedged between her teeth. An obvious sign she was trying hard to resist the temptation.

"Let me go Shane." Her voice was barely audible.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." He replied with a smug smirk.

"Let go of my wrist." She demanded through gritted teeth.

Once again, he pretended as if he didn't hear her. "I'm sorry, did you say 'give me a kiss'?"

"Shane don't–"

Mitchie couldn't even finish her warning before Shane pressed his lips against hers. Almost instinctively, she found herself kissing back. She wanted so badly to pull away but kissing Shane always made her weak in the knees and judging from how tightly he had his arm coiled around her waist, she just didn't have the strength to.

"Sir, Gibson is on line one calling about–"

Mitchie and Shane immediately jumped away from each other when they heard the sound of the door opening. Mitchie glared at Shane before turning to go pick up some more papers from his desk.

"Oh, I'm, uh, sorry. I-I didn't know–" Samantha, the receptionist, apologized quickly and directed her gaze at the floor.

"It's fine Sam." Shane assured her. He may have seemed cool on the outside but on the inside he felt like he was about to explode. It was his worst fear happening. Someone had seen him and Mitchie together. "Tell Gibson I'll call back later."

Samantha nodded embarrassedly and left the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Shane turned to face Mitchie who was shaking her head, avoiding eye contact with him.

"You shouldn't have done that." She slammed the papers she held in her hand down on his desk. "Dammit, Shane!"

"Shh," He held a finger over his lips as he looked back at the door. "After what Sam just saw, the last thing we need is her hearing you yelling my name."

"God, is everything a joke to you? This is serious, Shane. She could be out there right now calling Ashley and telling her what she saw."

The thought never even crossed Shane's mind. Samantha wasn't the type to do something like that. She was a naturally quiet person. If anything she'd take what she saw to her grave and never tell a soul.

"Mitchie, baby, you gotta relax." He reached out to touch her shoulder but she shrugged him off.

"Don't touch me." She said coldly. "And don't call me baby."

Shane just stood there as she pushed past him and left his office.

She was serious. His flirtation skills weren't going to be enough to make her change her mind about the status of their relationship. He was still going to have to choose: her or Ashley.

…

Ashley stomped into Shane's office building with the intent on surprising her husband by stopping by to pick him up for dinner. She figured they should spend some time together after their little spat a couple of nights ago.

"Mrs. Gray," Samantha, the receptionist, looked up at Ashley with wide eyes as she walked up to the desk.

"What's wrong, Sam? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." Ashley joked as she removed the sunglasses from her face.

"No, it's just…" The timid girl was getting flustered. It was hard for her not to tell this woman what she had saw earlier. Granted, she didn't _actually_ see Shane and Mitchie kiss but the way they pulled away when she walked in was very suspicious. Not to mention all the times they flirted around the office as if no one would notice. "Never mind."

"Don't you 'never mind' me," Ashley leaned onto the desk and gave Samantha a warm smile. "C'mon, you seem like you have something on your mind and its bugging you."

The two women turned their heads at the sound of a pair of heels clicking their way toward them. Samantha let out a sigh of relief while Ashley straightened up, her eased expression suddenly turning more serious.

"Why hello Mitchie." Ashley greeted her as she walked up to Samantha's desk. "Long time no see."

Mitchie shot her a fake smile before turning to Samantha. "Tell Shane I'm leaving. Thanks, Sam."

"Buh-bye Mitchie." Ashley waved as she watched Mitchie leave the building. Once she was gone, she turned back to Samantha. "Does she always wear such tight clothing?"

Samantha shrugged her shoulders. "Its not like she doesn't pull it off. Plus, none of the guys around here seem to mind much."

"Even Shane?"

Ashley noticed how Samantha suddenly tensed up at her question. She was no body language expert but it seemed like Samantha knew something she wasn't telling. Being that she had studied law for a number of years, Ashley knew exactly how to get it out of her.

"I'm just messing around." She said playfully hitting her hand on the desk. "Shane's not that kind of guy. When he put this ring on my finger and promised to love and cherish our relationship, he meant it."

Samantha squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. She felt like she owed it to this woman to tell her what she saw. She didn't think she could ever sleep peacefully again if she just let Ashley continue to think her husband was such a saint.

"Mrs. Gray, some people are really socially while others are more observers," Samantha started to speak, getting Ashley's full attention. "I myself am an observer. I sit at this desk all day and I observe. I see nearly everything that goes on around here."

"What are you trying to say Sam?" Ashley asked feeling that she was on the verge of a confession.

"Its not my place to get involved in your marriage but just based on my observations, in my personal opinion, maybe you don't know what kind of guy Mr. Gray actually is."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Ashley's question seemed to fall on deaf ears. Samantha winced and looked away feeling she had already said too much. "Sam, if you saw something involving Shane, you should tell me. I'm his wife after all."

Samantha sighed heavily. "This morning I went into his office to tell him about this company calling to speak with him and when I walked in, he and Mitchie were standing awfully close and they seemed a bit jumpy. That's it. Maybe I'm over exaggerating the situation but I'm just telling you what I saw."

Ashley gritted her teeth. She knew it all along. Shane had been sneaking around behind her back with his freaking assistant. Just the thought of it burned her up. She wanted to stomp into his office right then and confront him about it but she couldn't. Not yet at least. She had to break her own unfaithful ties to men before she could go yelling at Shane for his.

"Thanks for telling me Sam. You're a great friend." She said composing herself and putting on her best fake smile. "Would you mind not telling Shane I came?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Gray."

Ashley smiled. _Mrs. Gray_. She wasn't sure how long after today she'd stay 'Mrs. Gray'. It might have seemed a little bit hypocritical but she wasn't about to continue a marriage with a cheater. The only thing that would possible make her stay was the world's best apology from Shane and, more importantly, a decision®: her or Mitchie.

…

**Sorry it took so long to update! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! Much appreciated. Thanks for reading! :]**


	9. Exposed

Shane walked in to his house feeling completely exhausted. Mitchie had decided to leave early, which left him with a lot of work to tackle by himself. Even if their relationship didn't work out, he hoped she would still stay his assistant. She was actually really good at her job.

"Ashley, I'm home." He called out as he walked upstairs to their bedroom. He noticed her car was parked in the driveway and not in the garage like it usually was. It was a bit odd but nothing _too_ out of the ordinary.

"I'm in the kitchen." He heard her yell back at him. He made his way into the kitchen, loosening his tie as he walked. He ran a hand through his hair, something he often did when he was tired.

"Wow," Ashley exclaimed looking away from the bowl of pasta in front of her and up at Shane. "You look horrible. Rough day at work?"

"Yeah. Mitchie wasn't feeling well and left early so I had a lot of paperwork to handle myself. It was exhausting." Shane explained taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Ashley looked away from him and back down at the food in front of her. It amazed her how he could sit there and lie straight to her face. When she saw Mitchie leaving earlier today, she looked every bit of healthy. She couldn't shake the feeling something else was going on. His tired look, nearly undone tie and messy hair all just worsened her suspicions. She couldn't shake the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and she knew the only way to get rid of it was to confront Shane. If she didn't, it'd just eat at her until she finally did.

"I visited your work today," She stated looking over her shoulder to glance at him. She could see he was busy clicking away on his phone. It was bothering her that instead of catching on to her annoyed tone, he was all about his cell phone at the moment.

Shane was hearing everything Ashley was saying but it was going in one ear and out the other. Mitchie hadn't answered any of his earlier phone calls and he was a little worried about her and wanted to check in on her. He was texting her for the fourth time hoping she'd text back.

"Shane," Ashley called out trying to get his attention. He tapped at his phone without even flinching at the sound of his name. "Shane, I'm trying to talk to you."

"Just give me one second, okay?" He said holding up a finger.

"What is so important that you can't put your phone down for five minutes to talk to your wife?" She asked angrily. When he didn't respond, she stomped over to him and in one swift move snatched the phone out of his hands.

Shane quickly shot up out of his chair and attempted to reclaim his phone from Ashley. He had left his messages open and he really didn't want her reading his texts.

"Ashley give me my phone," He said as calmly as he possibly could. He stood behind her trying to reach over her shoulder and grab the phone out of her hands but she kept squirming making it hard for him to do so. "Seriously, Ash. This isn't funny."

Just as quickly as she had grabbed the phone, Ashley darted from the kitchen to the living room, Shane on her heels. She looked down at the phone and attempted to read the messages on the screen before he came trying to snatch it away from her again.

"_Please answer your phone. I miss you. Can we just talk, please?_" Ashley read the messages aloud. Shane stopped inches from her and closed his eyes in anguish. He knew he couldn't hide it from her forever. She was bound to find out someday and he guessed today was that day.

"Ashley," He slowly reached his hand to touch her shoulder but she jerked away, absorbed in the phone as he once had been.

"_I can't stop thinking about you. Let's meet up and talk._" She read more of the messages, taking her eyes off the screen for just a second to look at him. The contact wasn't saved and she didn't recognize the number. Her mind wondered with possibilities. "Shane, who are these to?"

When they locked eyes, he could see the hurt all over her face. He hated it. He nevermeant to intentionally hurt anyone but he knew that wasn't a possibility. He was playing a dangerous game. Someone was bound to get hurt.

"Shane, answer me." She demanded, stepping closer to him. His eyes went from her face to the floor. "Who do you miss, huh? Who can't you stop thinking about?"

He stayed quite and unmoving. He didn't want to answer her, he didn't even want to look at her. He just wanted to somehow magically fix this entire situation.

"You know, I suspected something like this was going on but I didn't want to believe it. I refused to believe that you would cheat on me but these messages obviously say otherwise." Her voice trembled as she shoved the phone into his chest.

"I'm sorry, Ashley." He said quietly. He knew it didn't mean much but it was something and that was better than nothing.

"Don't apologize." She said abruptly. "You made your bed, now you have to lie in it, right next to the skank you've been cheating on me with."

Shane watched her stomp pass him and go upstairs. He wanted to follow her, call her on the watch he found but that would only start a big fight and he wanted to avoid that. She was upset with him. In a weird way, that was a good thing. If she were mad, that would give _her_ a reason to end things between them. And if _she _ended things, there was a good possibility he wouldn't lose the funding for his label. Maybe there was a silver lining in this dark cloud after all.

As Ashley packed a small luggage bag with clothes and other items, she couldn't help but feel totally _pissed_ at Shane. And not for the obvious reasons, either. Yes, she was upset about the text messages but she was even more upset that he wasn't up here standing behind her begging her not to leave. He was putting up no fight at all and that was making her seriously think about their marriage. If he wasn't willing to fight to keep her, why should stay at all?

Minutes passed by before Shane heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He ran to the end of the staircase and saw Ashley coming down with a bag in her hand. She was leaving?

"I'm going to stay with my sister tonight." She informed him. He looked her up and down and sighed before nodding. She shook her head at his passiveness. Again, she gave him an opportunity to stop her and he just chose not to. "Goodbye Shane."

Once he was alone, Shane took a deep breath and pulled his phone out his pocket and dialed the same number that had gotten him in this trouble in the first place.

Just like he figured, it went straight to the machine. This time, though, he waited for the beep to leave a message.

"Hey, listen, I know you don't want to talk to me but I _need_ to talk to you. Ashley just walked out on me and…" He trailed off feeling himself getting a little choked up. Even if he wasn't _in love_ with Ashley, he still _loved_ her and it hurt to be walked out on by someone you love. "I would just appreciate it if you called me back or even texted me. I just need to talk and you've always been my go-to-girl for that. So, yeah, just please call."

Shane ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. Figuring he would spend his night waiting on a call back, he went upstairs to get ready for the wait. After a shower and an hour of watching some stupid reality show on TV, he was ready to call it a night. Ashley walked out on him and Mitchie wouldn't call him back. Here he was thinking he was going to at least end up with one of them and now he had neither. Just as he flicked the TV off, he heard the doorbell ring. He hopped out of bed and raced downstairs thinking maybe Ashley had come back or something. When he opened the door, he was pleasantly surprised.

"You said you needed to talk to me so here I am."

…

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I was swamped with end of the year exams and graduation and everything. Plus I developed a little addiction to Jonas Brother FanFiction Archive so most of my 'writing time' was spent there. Haha. I hope everyone liked this chapter and do me a huge favor and review! I'm going to try to update either tomorrow or the following day.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. No One Else

"Here's the bill, sir." The waiter handed Shane the bill, which he immediately gave back along with his credit card. He had glanced at the total and was surprised. It was more than he normally paid for his dinner for two.

It was around midnight when Mitchie came over and suggested that instead of staying at home and dwelling on what happened, they go out and do something to take his mind off of it for at least a little while. They ended up heading to iHop for a midnight breakfast.

"I think I'm going to go into a food coma." Mitchie commented sipping on her glass of orange juice.

"That's a welcome change." Shane said with a laugh. "Whenever I take Ashley out to places like this she just orders an appetizer and doesn't even eat half of it. It's nice to finally go out with someone who actually eats."

"How'd you meet her?" Out of all the things Shane had told her, he never mentioned how he met Ashley and she was interested.

Shane smiled remembering the first time he met Ashley. It was one of the good memories he had of her.

"Uh, when I first moved out here I didn't have a job and used to perform in these little coffee shops for a little cash and Ashley happened to be at one with her little pre-law friends. We just talked, exchanged numbers and the rest is history."

"Oh," She mumbled. "And when you say perform, you mean like sing?" Shane had never mentioned that to her before.

He nodded and sipped on his own orange juice. "Yeah, I used to want to be a singer but when I realized there was no way I could support myself and Ashley like that, I switched to working behind the scenes."

"And did you realize this on your own or was 'little miss pre-law' putting the idea in your head?"

Just as he was about to answer, the waiter came back around with his card. After putting it back in his wallet, he stood up out of the booth and headed for the exit.

"So you're not going to answer my question?" Mitchie called out behind him, following him out of the building.

Shane stood beside his car, hesitating a moment. "Ashley was never really supportive of my career choice, she never really approved of the way I dress, the way I wear my hair, what I eat, nothing. And I ask myself everyday why she married me. Out of all the guys she could have had at law school, why did she pick the guy singing in a coffee shop?"

"Because she loved you, Shane." It pained her to say but that was the only explanation Mitchie could come up with. However she felt about Ashley, she knew she loved Shane at one point in time.

"No, that's not why." He walked up to Mitchie, bending down so they were eye level. "Its because I'm stupid. It's easy to control someone who's stupid and that's all Ashley's ever wanted to do, control me. What I wear, who I talk to, how I present myself in public. I had to change for her. Who I was already wasn't good enough for her. And I'm just a stupid guy who fell for it."

"Shane," She started.

"Don't tell me I'm not because I am. I was stupid to have an affair. I was stupid enough to think I wouldn't get caught." He turned from her, pacing between the car and her. "I was stupid enough to marry someone I didn't love."

He was letting it out now. This is what he had called her over for, to vent. Granted he didn't expect it to happen in front of an iHop at almost one in the morning, he was glad it was happening. It felt good to get that stuff off of his chest.

"To be fair, I think I'm the stupid one here." Mitchie said matter-of-factly. Shane turned to her, his eyebrows pinched in confusion. "I am the one who fell in love with a married man. I mean you don't get much stupider than that."

Shane leaned against his car, bowing his head. Mitchie could see him breathing heavily meaning he was really stressing out over this. She didn't know what she could say to help but she knew what she could _do_.

She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, spinning him around. Before he could object, she placed her hand on the back of his neck, pulling his lips on top of hers. Just as suspected, he didn't even fight it.

Shane had no idea why Mitchie was kissing him but he didn't mind it or try to fight it. His hands found their way on her waist, pulling her closer to him. It had been a while since they had kissed _this_ passionately and he wanted to savor it.

"Wait," He said breaking their kiss. "Come on."

Without missing a beat, Shane ran around to the passenger side, dragging Mitchie behind him and let her in the car. Even in a panicked state, he was still such a gentleman. He ran back and got in the car himself and quickly drove back to his place. They didn't talk on the way there, instead he held her hand the entire way and placed small kisses on the back of it every so often.

When they arrived, Shane wasted no time taking her upstairs. He started back kissing her and lifted her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his body. He walked up the stairs, keeping their kiss going as he did. Once they reached his bedroom, he went over to the bed, laying her down gently.

Shane knew he wasn't thinking clearly, that he was thinking more with what was in his pants rather than his brain but he didn't care. He didn't care that they were just in the middle of iHop's parking lot in the middle of the night making out. He didn't care that they weren't even really a couple. All that mattered was that he was with her and no one else.

And that's what he wanted from now own.

Mitchie and no one else.

…

**I really hated this chapter. It was totally filler. The good stuff picks back up in the next chapter! ;] Please review and I'll update ASAP!**


	11. No Regrets

Shane slid the white cotton t-shirt over his head with a sigh. He looked around his bedroom and frowned slightly at the sight of his empty bed. It would take some getting used to, this whole 'being alone' thing. Sometimes it was nice, other times it was just, well…_lonely_.

It had been three days since Ashley walked out on him and he hadn't heard from her since. He thought about calling but he didn't. She made the choice to leave and he had to respect that. She obviously wanted time away from him and that's what he'd give her.

Plus, it was what Mitchie advised him to do.

She had been over every night since Ashley left but she had a life of her own and would leave every morning. They would keep up professional appearances at work since gossip travels fast and people were suddenly whispering about the two of them. He had Samantha to thank for that. On the outside, she looked so harmless when in reality she was just as gossip-hungry as everyone else.

Today was one of Shane's days off and he just didn't know what to do with himself. Mitchie still went in to take care of some odds and ends of various things for him so that ruled out any chance of her entertaining him for the day.

Yep, he was so lonely.

The last time he was _this_ alone was when he first moved out to L.A. and didn't know anyone too well. He had a few friends and went to bars to meet people but he really didn't know anyone he would actually _want_ to spend his days with. Thinking back on those days reminded him why he had moved to Los Angeles in the first place.

He walked into he and Ashley's walk-in closet and headed straight for the back. He smiled as he drew back a hanging coat to reveal one of his prized possessions: his acoustic guitar, which he called DG after one of his favorite singer/songwriters, Dallas Green.

He grabbed _DG_ and went back to sit on his bed. He gripped the neck, not having felt this particular guitar against his fingers for a long time. _Too long_, he thought.

As he strummed a few chords he couldn't help but grin. He missed it. He missed playing music. He missed being the guy fighting to get signed instead of the guy signing people.

"_You can barely support yourself, how do you think you're going to support the both of us playing in stupid coffee shops?"_

He abruptly struck a wrong sounding chord as Ashley's words floated into his head. He didn't know why he listened to her. Or better yet, he didn't know why he didn't see that as a red flag right then and there. Someone who truly loved him, who was completely in love with him, wouldn't have cared if they were broke and on the street just as long as they were both happy with each other.

Ashley was just never like that.

"I tried to be perfect, tried to be everything that you ever wanted," He sang softly as his fingers plucked the strings.

It was then he realized what he'd spend his day doing.

…

Mitchie paused from the typing she was doing at her computer to look at the clock. _Only two more hours_, she thought giving her sore neck a roll.

She hated days she had to work without Shane. Besides Samantha, who was kind of a bore, there were no women around her age that worked at the office. There were some older women in accounting and the legal department but they just saw her as a child. And she was anything but. Just ask any of the guys that worked there.

She couldn't talk to her male coworkers because whenever she came around, talking was the _last_ thing they had on their mind. A few of them have gotten a stern lecture from Shane concerning their behavior but they just took their bold comments directed to her and turned them into hushed whispers among themselves.

Without Shane, she was pretty much alone.

The same could be said about her personal life as well. Sure, she dated other men besides Shane but it was never the same. She knew she could be snarky, even bitchy, at times but that was just her personality and not many guys could handle it. Shane was different. Not only could he handle it, he often gave it right back to her. She found that out quickly when she first started working for him. In fact, their 'one-night-a-month' thing started off as a smartass comment from him but through their banter, turned out to be an agreement for an actual arrangement.

"_Hey Mitchie, would you mind checking the file cabinet for the Jefferson contract?" Shane instructed her as he leaned back in his desk chair._

"_Was that your attempt at to get be to bend over so you could stare at my ass?" She asked him with a tinge of annoyance. "You know very well those contracts are under that crap that you call a desk."_

"_Can you really blame me? You wear these outfits and it just makes a guy wonder what a night with you could be like."_

"_I don't think your wife would approve."_

"_Who says she'd even know about it?"_

A knock on her office door took Mitchie out of her memory. She looked toward the door and a wave of emotions hit her once she saw who was standing in her doorway.

"Got a minute?"

"Sure," Mitchie had no idea why Ashley was here. Actually, she had a couple. She could be here to give Mitchie a piece of her mind concerning the whole Shane situation or she could be here to give her a well-deserved slap on the face. The reasons were endless.

Ashley walked in hesitantly and shut the door behind her. _Great, she's trapping me in,_ Mitchie thought to herself.

She walked up to her and dropped a brown envelope on her desk. Mitchie just looked at the envelope and then back at Ashley.

"I've been doing some thinking and I think this is the right decision." Ashley said with a hint of irritation. "They're divorce papers."

"Why are you giving them to me?" Mitchie asked confusedly.

"I figure the _cause_ should be handing out the _effect_." Mitchie bowed her head shamefully. So Ashley knew the 'mystery woman' was her. "You know when I first read the texts on Shane's phone it didn't make any sense. I just thought he was seeing random women but then I realized if it were multiple women, I would have found out way sooner. And then once I narrowed it down to one woman, I tried to think who it could be. I knew it couldn't be a random. Shane isn't that daring to just go out and pick up a random woman and keep up a relationship with her for this long. And then I thought of people we knew. All of my friends were out of the question, they would have told me. It couldn't have been one of the female artists here. I would have heard a song about it, I'm sure. Pretty sure Samantha's too scared of me to try anything and then it all clicked. _Pretty little Mitchie_. It wasn't until he hired you that Shane suddenly had all of these _'overnight'_ conferences. After he hired you, he wouldn't even look at me let alone touch me. You know it's been at least three months since we've had sex? I thought maybe he was just never in the mood but then I thought, 'wait a minute; he's a guy; he's _always_ in the mood'. The only explanation was he didn't want any from me because he was getting some from someone else. I feel so stupid that this whole time I didn't even realize the reason my marriage was failing was right under my nose."

Mitchie sighed and waited to respond. She had so many things she wanted to say to Ashley, all of them containing many expletives, but she didn't want to say them to her, not now. Ashley was clearly pissed and cursing at her would surely only make it worse and the last thing she wanted was Shane finding out that his wife and mistress had a smack down in her office.

"You're upset, I get it. But to say I'm the reason your marriage is failing is not fair. It was only a matter of time before this happened. I was merely a scapegoat for Shane. I gave him a reason to not feel so bad about realizing he didn't love you anymore."

"Don't you dare try and put this on him. He was perfectly happy with me until _you_ came along and fucked our relationship up." Ashley said through gritted teeth. She didn't swear often but she couldn't help it. She was completely enraged. "How do you even sleep at night knowing you ruined a marriage?"

_Right next to Shane, in your bed. _Mitchie wanted to badly to retort with what she thought be she held her tongue.

"How he could think being with someone like you is somehow better than being with someone like me is beyond me." Ashley spat at her.

That was it. Mitchie had a reputation for not letting people talk to her any kind of way and she had let Ashley get away with too much. She slowly stood from her desk chair and exhaled deeply.

"You know why Shane threw everything he had with you away for me?" Ashley seemed a little surprised she was actually responding. "Because unlike you, I'm not a controlling bitch. He can actually be himself around me. I don't make him act a certain way just because _I _think it's better. You make him feel like he's an embarrassment. You treat him like crap around your fancy lawyer friends. And you discouraged him from doing what he really wanted to do with his life. You could have kept him, Ashley, you really could have. All you had to do was listen to what he had to say. Because the moment he fell for me was when I listened when you wouldn't."

Ashley nodded, her lips pressed together tightly. She was absolutely _fuming_. There was no way that was true. She loved Shane and Shane loved her. Mitchie was only saying those things to validate her wrongdoing, to make herself feel better about stepping in on a marriage.

Ashley wasn't about to let her do that.

When she couldn't find the words to say, she resorted to a different tactic. Before she knew it, she had slapped her. She never intended the conversation to turn physical but she also didn't plan on getting so worked up.

Mitchie held her cheek and stared at Ashley with a look of unbelief. She had only ever been slapped one other time in her life and that was during a stupid fight over the quarterback's affection in high school. Back then she was a lot more immature than she was now. She completely tore the other girl apart, thinking that was the right thing to do. Now she was smarter. There was no way she was going to even lay a finger on Ashley.

"Okay, maybe I deserved that," She said rubbing her throbbing cheek. She picked up the divorce papers and shoved them at Ashley. "But Shane doesn't deserve this. If you're going to end things, _you_ do it. Regardless of what you think, he's actually been pretty broken up about you leaving. The least you could do is break up with the guy face-to-face."

Ashley rolled her eyes. She hated to do it but she agreed with Mitchie. It would be pretty cowardice for her to hand him divorce papers via someone else and since she was _not_ a coward, she'd give them to him herself.

…

Shane kneeled in his closet mounting the wall mic to the back of the closet. He had gotten back from the music store an hour ago and bought the equipment necessary to turn his closet into a recording studio. As soon as it was up and running, he'd mess around and record some stuff. He had a similar set up back at his parents' house in New Jersey and he loved it. The raw sound it made was exactly what he wanted.

"What are you doing?"

Shane jumped at the sound of the female voice behind him. His heart nearly jumped up into his throat when he turned around and saw Ashley standing in the doorway of the closet. He was so busy in his work he must not have heard the front door open or her footsteps.

"I could ask you the same thing." He snapped. "What exactly makes you think you can go AWOL for three days and just waltz in here and question what _I'm_ doing?"

He stood up and pushed pass her to exit the closet. He grabbed a small towel that was on the bed and wiped his dirty hands. He stood with his back turned to her, waiting for her to respond.

"I'm sorry Shane but you have to understand what I was going through. I just found out my husband was cheating on me and I needed some time to think, evaluate things." She explained.

He turned to her and scoffed. "You could have called, at least once. I didn't know what you were doing, if you were all right. For all I knew you went and went and did something crazy like down a bottle of Tylenol PM."

"Does this count as something crazy?" She asked handing him the brown envelope.

He pulled out the papers inside and read the top aloud. "Marriage Settlement Agreement?" He processed those words for a moment. "Are you divorcing me?"

"Depends," She folded her arms over her chest and continued. "Can we work this out? Because I won't file if you're willing to work on things."

Shane nodded, slid the papers back into the folder and handed them back to her. "File them."

Ashley's mouth instantly dropped open. "You're just going to give up like that? You don't even want to try–"

"Why try to save something that's already dead?" He asked harshly. He softened his tone to continue. "I'm sorry Ashley. I love you, I really do but I'm just not _in love_ with you anymore and it wouldn't be fair to make you think we can make this work because we can't. My heart isn't one hundred percent in this marriage anymore. If it were, I wouldn't have cheated. Besides, you deserve so much better than me. You need a guy that can keep up with you and I'm just not that guy. What we had was great for a while but it fizzled out. You know it, and I know it."

She looked away as she felt her eyes welling up. She wanted so badly not to believe that he was doing this for a good reason. She wanted to think he was only doing this because he wanted to keep things going with Mitchie but even she knew that wasn't true. He was being completely honest with her and she knew it. She had known it for a while. Maybe at one point she and Shane were good together but they grew apart. They both wanted different things.

Shane never liked to see anyone hurting and Ashley was no exception. He meant what he said. He loved Ashley. She would always have a special place in his heart but he just couldn't be in a relationship with her. Seeing her cry made him feel bad about this whole thing. He wished things were different, that they could actually work out but the reality was they couldn't. And they'd just both have to accept it.

He reached out and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into a hug. He placed a kissed on her forehead and let her sob into his chest. Once she had calmed, he released her from his grip.

"So I guess I'll just sign them and send them to you for you to sign." She said wiping her face clean and composing herself. "I'll come back tomorrow to get my stuff. I'll just stay with my sister until I can find something permanent."

"No, Ashley," He looked around at the room, the house. "You mostly paid for the house. You stay here. I'll go somewhere else."

When she said nothing, he turned to the closet to pack a bag of clothes to last him the night. He didn't really know where he'd go but he had an idea.

…

Mitchie sat on the couch in her small apartment staring at Shane as he finished what was left of the sandwich she had made him moments earlier. He had showed up on her doorstep a while ago asking if he could stay. Of course, she said yes. The man was going through a divorce after all. She wasn't going to make his life more difficult by denying him a place to stay.

"Wow," Shane exclaimed patting his stomach. "That was a delicious sandwich."

"Yeah, don't get used to it. I'm not your personal chef," She said teasingly. "I'm just a girl who's lending you her couch for a while."

He nodded and looked over at her. He couldn't help but notice the red mark across her cheek. He reached his hand up and grazed his thumb over it.

"Do you regret taking your job?" He asked out of the blue. "I mean none of this would be happening if we never met."

Mitchie shook her head confidently. "I try to live with no regrets. If I would have never met you, I might have never known what it feels like to fall head-over-heels for someone."

Shane smiled. She was right. Granted it wasn't the most picture-perfect way to fall for someone but he did fall for Mitchie. He might regret a lot of things but he could never regret that.

…

**So I really hated the end of this chapter but I think I got my point across. Shane and Ashley are done. So there's only one more chapter left! It's the epilogue and it's pretty darn cute if you ask me. Haha.**

**Thanks for reading and please leave me a review!**


	12. Epilogue

_Three Years Later_

"Hello?" Shane walked into his large house and called out, his voice echoing throughout the home. He had literally just gotten off of a plane coming back from South America and the first thing he did was rush home.

"Hello?" He called out again. He pulled his Range Rover right up next to his wife's Mercedes so he knew she had to be here. He set his luggage down near the staircase and just as he was about to head upstairs, he heard a splash come from the backyard. He ran over to the door leading to the backyard and stood looking out of its window. _Of course. The pool. Should have known._, he thought to himself. After staring for a minute or two, he finally opened the door and walked out on the cobblestone ground. He smiled largely realizing he had walked out unnoticed.

"You guys miss me?" He said in an attempt to announce his presence.

"Daddy!" Shane bent down and opened up his arms allowing his son to run into his arms. He held on to the little boy and picked him up. He had really missed him. Once he was done showering his son with affection, he turned his attention to the woman sitting on the nearby poolside outdoor lounge chairs.

"And you," Shane quickly made his way to the lounge chair and, in one swift move, managed to take a seat and scoop her up, placing her on his lap. He wasted no time and started placing kisses everywhere from her head to her neck.

"Shane," She protested attempting to push him away. "I know you've been away but maybe not in front of S.J.?"

Shane (reluctantly) stopped and looked up at her. "I missed you, Mitchie."

Three years ago, he would have never imagined his life would have ended up like this. He would have guessed he'd be still running his old record label, married to Ashley, his ex-wife, trying to convince her to start a family. Instead, he was living his dream of being a recording artist as well as running his record label, which was now partnered with a more mainstream label, he was married to a woman he was unconditionally in love with and had the most amazing son a guy could ever ask for.

"So, were you and S.J. about to go for a swim?" He asked noticing they were both in their swimwear. Mitchie nodded, as did little S.J..

"Well how about I go get my swim shorts on and we can all go for a dip? It'll be a family swim." He announced proudly.

Yeah. He had definitely missed family life.

* * *

><p>After their, 'family swim', Shane, Mitchie and S.J. (short for Shane Jr.), all went out for dinner. They had went to Shane's favorite restaurant and celebrated his being home. Afterwards, they returned and put a tuckered out S.J. to bed. Once he was asleep, Shane and Mitchie relaxed on the couch, cuddled in each other's arms watching movies on Netflix.<p>

"I missed doing this so much." Mitchie commented resting her head on his chest.

He brought his fingers up to play with her, now blonde hair (she always changed it when he would go away). "I missed it too, hun."

"Can you believe this our life?" She sat up to face him. "A couple years ago, the only way we could be together is if we were in a hotel room. And now look at us. Married with a kid."

"We don't have to sneak around anymore." Shane reminded her proudly before leaning over and placing a kiss on her lips.

It was true. It was crazy to think how far they had come.

Just as they had started to deepen their kiss, they heard S.J.'s cry come from the baby monitor sitting on the coffee table in front of them. They broke apart and smiled at each other.

"Since I've been gone, _I'll_ go check on S.J.. When I get back, we should go to bed so I can show you what _I_ missed doing so much. " Shane said with a wink.

Mitchie nodded and followed him upstairs. They went their separate ways, Shane going into the nursery, Mitchie going into their bedroom.

Thinking back on it, her life truly had been full of surprises. Three years ago, she never pictured she would mess around with a married man, let alone fall in love with him. But she did and contrary to how she _thought_ it would end, it actually turned out greatly for her. Shane ended up getting a divorce, ending his marriage to his (now ex) wife Ashley. They two of them dated for about a year before he popped the question. They got married in a beautiful private little ceremony and shortly after, she found out she was pregnant. It scared her a bit, having a baby with Shane, whose career was taking off more and more every day, but again, everything ended up working out perfectly. S.J. was the perfect little toddler. He was just like Shane in every way, looks and personality. Shane would always find a way to spend time with him, too. He never let his career come between him and his family duties.

Mitchie had always thought about Ashley, though. She wondered how her life was going. She wondered if she had ruined it for her or something. Back at one of Shane's shows about three months ago, the couple actually ended up running into her…_and_ her fiancée. Apparently, her life ended up working out just as Shane and Mitchie's did. It was a relief to both of them since they always had that fear that they had caused Ashley's life to take a turn for the worst.

"Okay, I'm back." Shane entered their bedroom, taking Mitchie out of her thoughts. The excited look he wore on his face faded quickly. "Why are you still dressed? Didn't you get what I was alluding to downstairs?"

"Stop being a smartass or the only thing you'll be doing tonight is sleeping." She said knowing he was being sarcastic with his last comment. He smiled and shrugged making his way to the bed, lying down next to her.

It might have sounded weird to some but Shane was glad he had decided to cheat on his (ex)wife all those years ago. If he hadn't, he wasn't sure he would be living the life he was right now, the life he loved so much.

He sure was thankful for his affair with Mitchie.

**The End.**

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! And we're done! ...Maybe. I might <strong>_**possibly**_** come up with some sort of sequel. Would anyone maybe read just like a cute little story about their family life or something? Let me know if you would! We'll see what happens. Until then, though, thanks to everyone who read this and reviewed it and favored it and alerted it and everything! Haha.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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